Hi from a new frog owner!

[Hoppity100]

Hi everyone, I just joined the forum because I bought 2 fire belly toads/frogs yesterday. Will be asking questions about them, have been reading about them since last night. I had small plain green frogs years ago from tadpoles from a pet store. When they grew we turned them loose to a frog/fish pond in a local park. Now that I have these frogs they are much nicer to look at because of their vivid color and spots, I have not seen their belly color yet. They have had food today and seem happy. Hope to hear from someone with the same kind! Thanks!

[Jaba96]

Great for you I considered the Fire Bellies but decided on big and bad but anyway Congrats.
(by the way see if they'll take earthworms that's the best for frogs due to thier high protien content)

[Hoppity100]

Great for you I considered the Fire Bellies but decided on big and bad but anyway Congrats.
(by the way see if they'll take earthworms that's the best for frogs due to thier high protien content)

Thanks! I can get some earthworms from the yard but would like to clean them first in water, is this safe for these frogs?

[Jaba96]

Yes but make sure to clean with dechlorinated water and that should be fine.
(My Paman hates worms but loves Calcium coated crickets go figure)

[Hoppity100]

Yes but make sure to clean with dechlorinated water and that should be fine.
(My Paman hates worms but loves Calcium coated crickets go figure)

Yeah, I always add dechlorinated water as I have a fish tank also. I buy the largest bottle of dechlorinator that is sold. The crickets are great for them but, they are small, I had a hard time catching them at first, found them to cost more than I thought: 10/$1. I thought they'd cost more like 30/$1 because they were so small. I can check other stores for a cheaper price. Thought I might try a few guppies and see if they are eaten, these toads are not picky about what they eat and they seem hungry any time food is offered. The store had just received new toads yesterday and since I have never had them before thought they were young and hungrier than an adult toad. They are at least 2" long. I have had almost every pet you can think of except a camel. LOL I also have one RCC in with toads, the store kept them together and they get along okay. The crab even went after a worm last night! Crabs act like they don't pay any attention, but mine did!

[FriedrichsFrogs]

Hi, welcome. i joined a few days ago, this place is pretty informative you'll like it. i have 2 fire bellies too, i feed them red wiggler worms about twice a month along with crikets every few days. If you are going to feed them earth worms be sure theyr not too big, i have to chop the red wigglers down to size before i feed them to my toads

[Hoppity100]

Hi, welcome. i joined a few days ago, this place is pretty informative you'll like it. i have 2 fire bellies too, i feed them red wiggler worms about twice a month along with crikets every few days. If you are going to feed them earth worms be sure theyr not too big, i have to chop the red wigglers down to size before i feed them to my toads

Hi and thanks for the welcome! I joined because I have new fire bellies and after reading alot of info on the internet, I was in doubt about mealworms. I would like mine to have red wigglers, too. I now have mealworms, wax worms and crickets. I was going to try guppies to break up their boredom. I also have a RCC in my tank, they all get along, and I found them kept together at the pet store. The crab went after a mealworm, too, and maybe he would like a guppy. What is your tank set- up like and do you house any other pets with them? Mine is 10 gal with driftwood, rocks, live plants, tree house, dry substrate, and about 60% water. Also have a heater. I would like to put sand back in but after seeing how dirty it got and it may have kept odor in, I think I'll switch to peat moss I use for my hermits. I guess fire bellies would rather have sand with live moss.

[FriedrichsFrogs]

yea 2 FBTs is all the amphibians i have. i would love to put a fish species in the tank but its mostly frowned upon because of the toxicity of the toads, plus i heard they attempt to eat the fish out of the water too. U must have gotten your toads at petsmart because the place i got them from also housed them with small red crabs. my tank setup is pretty simple but i think my next tank change will have some dimension (got great ideas from the forum). I just have garden stones on the bottom, a floating lillipad for feeding, a waterfall-filter, a bridge that i placed up against the glass so the toads can get some height if they want, a small castle for no reason really, some plastic leaves hanging from the wire lid, and a leaf-tub that suctions to the glass. Its a 10 gal + is mostly water. Anyway, id say forget the sand, thats defintly a no-no due to the risk of eating it along with their food. It runs the possibility of causing impaction and subsequently killing your toads by accident. Id also say trade your heater in for a thermometer. As long as theres an efficient light source + out of the elements of winter (away from drafty windows or you have the heat on in your home) they should be fine. I have a thermometer + a heat-bulb just incase their temp goes below 65 but its important to keep an eye on their temp, wether its winter or summer. Substrate on the other hand i cant help u out with much because i dont use it but a lot of other people do so maybe they can be more helpful. goodluk!

P.S. Stay away from mealworms!! Their exoskeleton is difficult to digest and they attempt to chew their way through an intestine once eaten. I learned that the hard way years ago when i kept 3 American Toads. My smallest toad was as hard as a rock the morning following a feeding day, frozen in a "swallowing" position like he had somthing caught in his throat. (RIP AL)

[Hoppity100]

yea 2 FBTs is all the amphibians i have. i would love to put a fish species in the tank but its mostly frowned upon because of the toxicity of the toads, plus i heard they attempt to eat the fish out of the water too. U must have gotten your toads at petsmart because the place i got them from also housed them with small red crabs. my tank setup is pretty simple but i think my next tank change will have some dimension (got great ideas from the forum). I just have garden stones on the bottom, a floating lillipad for feeding, a waterfall-filter, a bridge that i placed up against the glass so the toads can get some height if they want, a small castle for no reason really, some plastic leaves hanging from the wire lid, and a leaf-tub that suctions to the glass. Its a 10 gal + is mostly water. Anyway, id say forget the sand, thats defintly a no-no due to the risk of eating it along with their food. It runs the possibility of causing impaction and subsequently killing your toads by accident. Id also say trade your heater in for a thermometer. As long as theres an efficient light source + out of the elements of winter (away from drafty windows or you have the heat on in your home) they should be fine. I have a thermometer + a heat-bulb just incase their temp goes below 65 but its important to keep an eye on their temp, wether its winter or summer. Substrate on the other hand i cant help u out with much because i dont use it but a lot of other people do so maybe they can be more helpful. goodluk!

P.S. Stay away from mealworms!! Their exoskeleton is difficult to digest and they attempt to chew their way through an intestine once eaten. I learned that the hard way years ago when i kept 3 American Toads. My smallest toad was as hard as a rock the morning following a feeding day, frozen in a "swallowing" position like he had somthing caught in his throat. (RIP AL)

I'm glad you wrote! Your tank sounds nice and is similar to mine. I had sand because I had crabs in my tank before a while ago. I did get my fire bellies at PetSmart and the girl said when they get a shipment in they only get 6 at a time. Last time I was there, weeks ago, I found 2 dead frogs and the store said they had a "bad shipment" and I think the frogs could have died from either not being fed or maybe like yours, they both ate a mealworm and it killed them. But, I am leary of giving them guppies in case the fish are sick. Both of my frogs are identical except one is a bit larger so I offer the smaller one a worm first (the other one eats like crazy) and he is skinnier. I am waiting for my wax worms to move as I type. Petco has frogs but they are $1 more each. We are limited here: I have not seen african drawf frogs, live shrimp, larger snails, or fiddler crabs anywhere. But thanks for writing and warning about mealworms! Yeah, either they cause an impaction or obstruction, I guess earthworms would be the best and I would get mine from our yard, we don't use chemicals and I would like to know if this is safe? It would certainly save me from going to the store every week.

[FriedrichsFrogs]

yea there was a dead frog in the tank last time i got my most recent frog from petsmart. Dont know if it was directly their fault, im there pretty often for crikets and they always seem well kept + fed so idk what happened. Theyr only a dollar? Theyr about $7 at petsmart around here, i prefer them over Petco tho. Earthworms should be ok although i wouldnt recomend getting them from the wild because, as youve heard, they could possibly have absorbed pesticide or other things that could be harmful to your frogs but thats a decision you'll have to make. Waxworms are good too but only as a treat once in a while because of their high fat content. Are you feeding them stricly worms?

[Hoppity100]

yea there was a dead frog in the tank last time i got my most recent frog from petsmart. Dont know if it was directly their fault, im there pretty often for crikets and they always seem well kept + fed so idk what happened. Theyr only a dollar? Theyr about $7 at petsmart around here, i prefer them over Petco tho. Earthworms should be ok although i wouldnt recomend getting them from the wild because, as youve heard, they could possibly have absorbed pesticide or other things that could be harmful to your frogs but thats a decision you'll have to make. Waxworms are good too but only as a treat once in a while because of their high fat content. Are you feeding them stricly worms?

I got my fire bellies from petsmart for $6 each, got crickets at pet supplies plus 10/$1 and after today I see why their ratings are so low here. No I wasn't going to get worms from my yard due to taking risk of frogs getting sick and when I have time will try to locate any store here that sells earthworms. Just got back from pet store with crickets, just fed them and will make calcium dust. I have crickets, wax worms, mealworms. Problem is the store selling me dead worms, not checking them first, not telling me which worms to feed or how to care for them, not having help come after store paged person twice, was disgusted with them a year ago when I found they refused to give hamsters a wheel and made 5 excuses for this, had to make 3 trips there due to dead worms, don't get right advice which is why I joined forum.

Petco sells same frogs/toads for a dollar more. Petsmart seemed to have their frogs housed right, in with crabs, but when I found 2 dead frogs and they were so casual about me finding them, I was suspicious. I guess no one will know cause of this but they ought to be embarrassed when a customer finds this and they show no emotion...it probably occurs at intervals and they don't seem too concerned, I would be if I worked there. They gave me some advice about red claw crabs months ago but it was not really enough to be helpful, the internet was better.

To answer your main question: I have crickets, wax worms, mealworms now and was considering guppies then realized that may not be a good idea. Will try to find store that sells earthworms when I find out results tomorrow from my vet about my dog. So, I am not having what you call a good day. Any tips on insects are welcome though, can write later to appropriate forum areas, too.

[FriedrichsFrogs]

haha! thats really funny that you say that becuase i just went to get crikets today too and i have to pass a pet supplies plus to get there, the whole place was closed down. the sign was off of the front and everything (it was always a shady, dirty place anyway). I guess its like that everywhere, go figure. That aint right though that the petsmart guys dont check on their own damn pets to get rid of the dead ones, i agree. Some of the employees know their stuff when it comes to frogs because theyr owners but most of them are just there to get paid. sorry to hear about ur dog man hope everything comes back positive...positive like good, not positive for cancer or anything like that. The only thing you really have to worry about with healthy insects is not to over feed your frogs, itll stank-up your tank and make the water stingey.

[Hoppity100]

haha! thats really funny that you say that becuase i just went to get crikets today too and i have to pass a pet supplies plus to get there, the whole place was closed down. the sign was off of the front and everything (it was always a shady, dirty place anyway). I guess its like that everywhere, go figure. That aint right though that the petsmart guys dont check on their own damn pets to get rid of the dead ones, i agree. Some of the employees know their stuff when it comes to frogs because theyr owners but most of them are just there to get paid. sorry to hear about ur dog man hope everything comes back positive...positive like good, not positive for cancer or anything like that. The only thing you really have to worry about with healthy insects is not to over feed your frogs, itll stank-up your tank and make the water stingey.

Thanks for writing, I just finished emailing pet supplies plus about my bad experiences there, especially today with crickets and not getting help after help was paged twice and cashier didn't care and left me standing in the store. Yesterday they sold me dead worms I had to exchange and again, no reaction from employee, no explanation, just a blank look. I am glad you wrote about your store being closed, ours has a low rating and I see why. About frogs, I will be careful about feeding, they are waiting now for food, they eat any time its offered. They are either really hungry or really bored. I noticed the store does not sell toys for them, this is unheard of, I'll put them by the tv if national geo has a reptile show. Maybe they'd like a cooking show instead (laughing). But like you said, too many stores have employees that can't help or they misinform. I hope my dog is ok, too, she is only 2 years old, her behavior is unusual, glad I took her to vet. Thanks for thinking of both of us.